Grilled Skirt Steak Fajitas with a Dry Rub

So long time no talk, how are you guys all doing?  Dish is doing great and we have a big summer coming up.  I must say everyone is working harder this year to stay above last year, but so far we have been on track.  We are definately not growing like last year, but we are not contracting either.  I attribute this to some super fine work from my wife and employees.  

We are excited about the summer season starting up because as in the past we will be working with a group of local farmers to produce vegetables for us all summer…Tomatoes, greens, carrots, onions all fresh and local.  Distance traveled to our place = less than 50 miles.  EXCITING!

Our quest to serve better meats without antibiotics and hormones is continuing as well.  We are purchasing our ham, bacon, salami and turkey from a company that uses only free-range, chemical free, humanely raised animals.  Our eggs have been and will continue to be free-range along with our chicken products.  At this point, we are pretty much the only restaurant in Reno other than 4th Street Bistro offering this type of product on a daily basis.  In fact  I’ve started to make my own Italian sausage because I can’t find any in town that doesn’t come from factory farmed animals.  We are actually looking into raising Berkshire pigs later this year so we know exactly how the animals were treated.

The new restaurant location is coming along as well.  We are thinking the space will be ready sometime in the beginning of next year.  We can’t wait actually.  We are still turning down business because of the lack of production capacity at Dish right now.  We are between a rock and a hard place.  In fact we need to do more business to make my coming over from corporate america worth it, but we can only squeeze so much out of our current location.

Oh well, what to do?  How about make some Fajitas with skirt steak, grilled onions and bell peppers!  Super easy recipe, the onions and bell peppers took the longest, but they were worth it.

Dry Fajita Rub from Steven Raichlen

• 1/4 cup paprika
• 3 tablespoons coarse salt
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons cracked black pepper
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon dried coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Combine all ingredients and mix with your fingers or a fork.

Grilled Skirt Steak Fajitas (serves 4 to 6)

• 2 large onions, peeled and cut lengthwise into 6 wedges, leaving root ends intact
• 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 bell peppers, cut into 2 inch strips ( I used yellow ones)
• 2 lbs skirt steak
• 8 flour tortillas
• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• Grated cheese, if you like
• Sour cream, again if you like
• Salsa
• Metal or wood skewers

Start your grill up and warm to medium-hot.  Apply rub to both sides of the skirt steak and allow to rest on your counter for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile thread onions and bell peppers onto skewers, then brush with olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper. Grill onions, turning occasionally, until tender, 16 to 20 minutes.  When just cool enough to handle, cut onions into 1-inch pieces and set on a platter.

Turn grill to high and let the temperature come up a bit.  Grill steak, turning once, 4 to 8 minutes total for medium-rare depending on the thickness of your steak.  Mine were very thin, maybe 1/4 inch max and I grilled them for 2 minutes on each side.

Transfer to cutting board, then let stand 5 minutes before cutting diagonally into thin slices against the grain of the meat.

While steak is standing, toast tortillas directly on grill rack, turning once, until puffed slightly and browned in spots. Serve steak, onions, peppers, cilantro and salsa all wrapped in tortillas.  We added cheese, salsa and sour cream ’cause we love it all so much!

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